Vannevar Bush + Chasing New Technology

In 1945, Vannevar Bush’s watershed article, “As We May Think” was published in the Atlantic Monthly. Here he forecasts many technologies that wouldn’t show up for fifty years or more. In particular he predicts a personal device he calls the “Memex,” which would store all of an individual’s books, records and communications. It would allow the user to consult that information with “exceeding speed and flexibility.” Although his thorough description is far from the reality of today, the core idea is crystal clear: We do have personal computers and phones that not only store all of our personal information and communications, but they grant us access to more information than Bush ever imagined.